ドブに捨すてる

Meanings

1

expression, ichidan verb

throw down the drain; waste; squander

idiomatic expression

Idiomatic expression meaning to waste something valuable or let an opportunity go to waste, as if throwing it into a gutter. Often used for money, effort, or talent.

そんなにお金かねをドブに捨すてるような使つかい方かたはやめなさい。
Stop wasting money like that—it's like throwing it down the drain.

せっかくのチャンスをドブに捨すててしまった。

I ended up squandering a golden opportunity.

Written forms

ドブに捨すてる
Katakana ドブ is the most common spelling for 'drain/gutter' in this idiom.
どぶに捨すてる
Hiragana spelling; less common but still seen.
溝どぶに捨すてる
Kanji spelling 溝 is possible but unusual for this idiom; ドブ is preferred.

Kanji

捨discard, throw away, abandon
溝gutter, ditch, sewer

Similar words

無む駄だにする
無駄にする is a general verb for 'waste' or 'make useless', while ドブに捨てる is a vivid idiom emphasizing careless or regrettable waste, like throwing something into a gutter.
棒ぼうに振ふる
棒に振る also means 'to waste' or 'to ruin' (an opportunity, effort, etc.), but it carries a nuance of making something come to nothing through one's own actions, whereas ドブに捨てる focuses on the act of discarding something valuable as if it were trash.

Etymology

Literally 'throw into the gutter/drain'. The phrase uses ドブ (drain, gutter) to evoke the image of discarding something valuable as if it were worthless waste.